--- a/hotspot/src/share/vm/oops/instanceRefKlass.cpp	Mon Dec 13 14:46:51 2010 -0800
+++ b/hotspot/src/share/vm/oops/instanceRefKlass.cpp	Tue Dec 14 15:10:52 2010 -0500
@@ -458,6 +458,7 @@
 }
 
 bool instanceRefKlass::owns_pending_list_lock(JavaThread* thread) {
+  if (java_lang_ref_Reference::pending_list_lock() == NULL) return false;
   Handle h_lock(thread, java_lang_ref_Reference::pending_list_lock());
   return ObjectSynchronizer::current_thread_holds_lock(thread, h_lock);
 }